Collections

The Stephen Smith papers are a partial record of the business transactions of a Boston cabinetmaker and furniture dealer, concentrated in the years 1834-1853.

The Stephen Smith papers are a partial record of the business transactions of a Boston cabinetmaker and furniture dealer, concentrated in the years 1834-1853. Despite its incompleteness, the collection provides a good overview of the trade, and includes some detailed information on cabinetry, iron stoves, retail operations, clock making, apprenticing, and business practices, and gives some minor insight into the lives of an upwardly mobile member of the skilled artisan class.

The most informative series of letters in the collection are the more than ninety letters between Smith and his brothers-in-law, Thomas and John L. Lothrop, relating to the manufacture and sale of iron stoves, and the twenty letters written by a Concord, N.H., clockmaker, Abiel Chandler, discussing clock manufacturing and the consignment of his goods through Smith. Chandler's letters provide details on the prices, design and distribution of clocks. Labor arrangement are not a major topic in the collection, however, there are several letter relating to efforts to arrange apprenticeships for boys entering the cabinetmaking trade, and one regarding a boy named Henry, possibly a relative of the Lothrops, who wanted to become an apothecary (3:34). According to the Lothrops, Henry was a difficult case, and suffered from the serious fault of a short attention span and an interest only in things when they were new. One letter, written in 1842, includes notice of a convention for cabinetmakers in Boston (2:45).

The Smith papers contain ten letters relating to the California Gold Rush, six written by Stephen Smith's brother, George L. Smith, in 1849 and 1850, and two by a ship captain who transported them to California from Boston. George's letters include literate, optimistic descriptions of the voyage around the horn and of conditions in San Francisco and Sacramento during the first year of the Gold Rush. They are especially interesting in that George was a minor success at gold mining.

Among the miscellaneous items in the collection are two unusual, brief letters of some note. The first is a letter from a recent widower, Kimbal Smith (3:13), discussing the death of his wife and the emotional hardships he has faced, and the second is a plea from a young man in prison, John Daly (3:51), pleading with his father to get him out and providing a vivid, though very brief sketch of the horrifying conditions.

The Suckley family papers provide documentation of family life, mercantile business, and the Methodist Church in antebellum New York City.

This Suckley collection is only a small residuum of a much larger collection, yet what remains provides important documentation of several aspects of nineteenth century life, particularly relating to commercial life in antebellum New York City and the Methodist Church.

Boxes 1 and 2 consists primarily of in-coming correspondence dated between 1791 and 1839, centering on the personal and professional life of George Suckley, with the earliest material originating in the family of his first wife, Miss Lang, in England. The letters contain some information on English Methodism (1:1-6, 16-18). Of particular interest are the letters of the Methodist missionary, Francis Asbury (1:10-11) and of the wife of Richard Reece, who began his itinerant ministry in 1787 (The Christian Advocate and Journal, May 13, 1846, contains a brief sketch of Reece's life). The letters of Catherine Rutsen Suckley and Joseph Holdich include discussions of the Methodist Church in America, and the missionary Freeborn Garretson, is discussed in several letters (1:21-23,25,26,32).

George Suckley's business correspondence includes dealings with the English firm of Holy, Newbould and Suckley (1:33-42,47) and two sets of letters from agents who Suckley retained to manage his vast land holdings, John Reed in upstate New York and John Rangeley in Maine. Among the personal correspondence are several letters from Philadelphia lawyer(?) Cornelius Comegys and letters from three of George Suckley's sons. John Lang Suckley wrote frequently to request money to pay his servants; Rutsen Suckley assisted in managing his father's properties, and Thomas Holy Suckley was a college student.

Box 3 contains family correspondence written after George's death in 1846. Among the family members represented are George's children Rusten, Mary, and Thomas Holy Suckley, and his grandson Dr. George Suckley (1830-1869). George's letters are the most intrinsically interesting, as they were written during a period in the 1850s when he was practicing in Oregon and Washington Territory and considering land investments in California. During this same period, Dr. Suckley was the recipient of several letters from David and Jack Green (apparently cousins of some sort). One item (3:39) relates to George's Civil War service. The later correspondence heavily concerns New York charities. One interesting letter (3:52) is a stableman's apology for drunkenness on Christmas.

Boxes 5 through 9 are arranged in folders by subject. Of particularly interest are materials that document the various New York City rental properties owned by Rutsen Suckley, recording rents collected and upkeep expenses between the 1840s and 1870s. The cost of living in New York can be calculated from bills and receipts for a wide range of products and services.

This collection is made up of a letterbook, mechanical drawings, project records, and order books kept largely by Thomas F. Krajewski, a mechanical engineer, and, later his co-partnered firm Krajewski-Pesant Corp. in New York City, between 1888 and 1906. Krajewski designed custom machine parts, particularly projects for clients purchasing new or re-outfitting old sugar cane processing machinery with his patented improved rolls and boiler pans. The collection includes records of client orders—many of them to sugar estates in Cuba and the greater Caribbean—and retained letterpress copies of his mechanical drawings. The earliest volume begins with letterpress copies of the 1873-1875 business correspondence of John T. Dunkin, who ran a machine shop on West 27th Street, and the latest volumes are order books of Krajewski-Pasant, continuing past Krajewski's death in 1913.

This collection is made up of a letterbook, mechanical drawings, project records, and order books kept largely by Thomas F. Krajewski, a mechanical engineer, and, later his co-partnered firm Krajewski-Pasant Corp. in New York City, between 1888 and 1906. Krajewski designed custom machine parts, particularly projects for clients purchasing new or re-outfitting old sugar cane processing machinery with his patented improved rolls and boiler pans. The collection includes records of client orders—many of them to sugar estates in Cuba and the greater Caribbean—and retained letterpress copies of his mechanical drawings. The earliest volume begins with letterpress copies of the 1873-1875 business correspondence of John T. Dunkin, who ran a machine shop on West 27th Street, and the latest volumes are order books of Krajewski-Pasant, continuing past Krajewski's death in 1913.

Descriptions of each volume:

Volume 1: John T. Dunkin Letterbook, 1873-1875 and 1880s, and Thomas F. Krajewski Sketch Book A, 1888. Pages 1-266 and 614-616. Outgoing correspondence of Jno. T. Dunkin of the J. T. Dunkin steam engine firm (offices at 556 W. 27th Street) to customers, giving updates on their orders for engines, boilers, other machinery (such as a liquor aging machine, a 100-ton hydraulic press), parts, alterations, and services. A few of Dunkin's customers included Paulding Kemble & Co. in Cold Spring, N.Y.; T. F. Rowland of Greenpoint, Long Island; Park Brother & Co. in Pittsburgh; Diggs Brothers in Baltimore; Metropolitan Gas Light Co.; E. G. Goddard of Worcester, Mass.; Watte Campbell and Co. of Newark, N.J.; Kattenhorn Hopke Offerman & Co. of Hastings, N.Y.; J. Adams of Palatka, Florida; and I. R. Pickering of Portland, Connecticut. Other business-related correspondence is present, including a series of letters on bill arbitration between T. Dunkin Paret of The Tanite Company of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and John T. Dunkin in the spring/summer of 1875.

Volume 1: Thomas F. Krajewski Sketch Book A, Jan. 7-Nov. 17, 1888 (pages 268-581); and Volume 2: Thomas F. Krajewski Sketch Book B : 1888-1891 (pages 1-513, plus alphabetic index). Each page of the onion-skin "sketch book" volumes has the name of the project/part(s), the mechanical/engineering design drawings, the estate or client name, and the date it was accomplished. The index is arranged by type of machinery, an order number, and "Estate" (i.e. client). For example, the first page of the index is for "Boilers" and on it are orders for piping, cast iron fittings, steam pipes, damper details, anchor bolts, plates for boiler lugs, connections for boiler fronts, rods and bolts for chimney, valves, and other parts. According to the index, on page 17 is "Piping for old boilers," order number 139, "Estate" Ramona. Page 17 includes mechanical drafts and dimensions for four different pipes for Jno Ramona, Order 139, November 7, 1888. A small selection of entries in the alphabetic index include parts for Cane Carrier Work and Cane Cutters (contracted by Caracas, St. Lucia, Caridad, Narcisa, St. Croix, "Alcancia," San Pedro, etc.); Car Work (with HRR Co. and Sagua Railway Company, etc.), Condensers, Crown Wheels, Defecators & Classifiers, Dumping Machines, Engines, Mills, Pipes, Platforms, Pumps, Steampipes, Tanks, "Triturators," Tools, Vacuum Pans, and Vapor Pipes.

Volume 3: Thomas F. Krajewski and Krajewski-Pesant Project Record Book, 1893-1901 (118 pages). [NB: This volume is a record book and does not contain mechanical drawings].

• Pages 2-99: January 3, 1898-September 4, 1901. Project numbers 3001-4814. Each entry contains the project number, a description of the project, dates, estate owner, order number and date, pencil draft start and end dates, tracing start and end dates, and "Sig."
• Pages 101-111: "Drawings from Havana Office," February 26, 1899-June 12, 1901. Drawing numbers 1-366 (though most numbers do not have any entries associated with them). The filled-in entries contain a drawing number, title of drawing, date, order number, and estate or owner. A few examples include (entry two) "Plan of Regla shops of K.P. Co."; (entry 77) "Pier for Regla Shop," March 25, 1899; and (entry 79) "Railing for Gen. Ludlow's Garden," April 1, 1899. Most entries relate to mills, mill parts, crushers, cranks, shafts, rolls for grinders, regulators, engines, bearings, knives and bars for grinding mills, crown wheels, support bars, a new shaft for an old Bagasse roll, a rudder for a tugboat, crystalizers, pipes, pans and valves for crystalizers, and work for Central Tirguan, Ingo. S. Ignacio, and Ingo. Jesús.
• Pages 127-129: "Havana Sketches," October 6, 1899-1900.
• Page 135: "Regla Sketches," undated.
• Pages 151-154: "Drawings from Mexico," 1896-1901. These entries pertain to estates Alamada, Atencingo, Cuahuistla, A.H. Wright, San Francisco, San Marcos, El Modelo, San Nicolas, San Cristobal, Tenextepango, Sta. Ines, Sta. Clara, et al. Among the projects were a "juice outlet for mill," pulleys and shafts for centrifugals, wheels, plates, boilers, Bagasse burners, bevel gears, a blower and engine, vacuum pan, vulcanized rubber rings for an air pump piston, a general plan of a sugar mill and gearing, position of juice heater and condenser, a plan of Bagasse Carriers, a Sugar Manufactory, and Boiler Plant.
• Pages 171-172: "Drawings from Louisiana" June 14, 1893-November 1, 1900. Estates Adeline, Maria Terre Haute, Ashland, Oaklawn, Raceland, Belle Alliance, McCall Bros., Justine, Elm Hall, Slargeress, Bush Grove, Myrtle Grove, Vanfrey, Segura Sugar Co., Gramercy Co., and others.
• Page 181: "Porto Rico" no dates, by P.R. 1-19. Rolls, shafts, wheels, arrangement of a mill, a tug boat boiler for Ponce Lighter Co., a Bagasse carrier, and a sugar house.

Volume 4: Krajewski-Pesant Corp. Order Book, December 17, 1904-March 15, 1906 (internally, marked in pencil "Book No 7"). 90 pages plus index. Stamped numbers 2640-2958. Each entry in this volume includes stamped date and number, handwritten numbers referencing other record books, the name of the client and their geographical location, a description of the order, and notes about urgency and shipping. A large portion of these accounts are with people and companies in Cuba.

Volume 5: Krajewski-Pesant Corp. Order Book, February 3, 1913-June 7, 1916 (internally, marked in pen "Order Book #14"). 142 pages. Stamped numbers 4193-4631. Each entry in this volume includes stamped date and number, handwritten numbers referencing other record books, the name of the client and their geographical location, a description of the order, and notes about urgency and shipping.

The Townsend Young daybook contains financial accounts for Young's business as a clothier in Sing Sing, New York. His clients were predominantly individuals, who paid cash for many types of clothing, cloth, tailor work, and sewing tools. He also rented Singer sewing machines. Each entry includes the customer name, goods purchased or rented, costs, and reference numbers. While Townsend Young held a work contract with Sing Sing's female prison during at least part of this period, no products in this daybook are specifically identified as the result of contract system labor.

The Townsend Young daybook contains 800 pages of financial accounts for Young's business as a clothier in Sing Sing, New York, between 1876 and 1877. His clients were predominantly individuals who paid cash for many types of clothing, tailor work, cloth, and sewing tools. He also rented Singer sewing machines. Each entry includes the customer name, goods purchased or rented, costs, and reference numbers. While Townsend Young held a work contract with Sing Sing's female prison during at least part of this time period, no products in this daybook are specifically identified as the result of contract system labor.

Townsend Young's store also provided tailor services such as sewing, cleaning, pressing, repairing, making buttonholes, and other work. The list of products sold by Young is lengthy. A selection of the goods referenced in the daybook include vests, suspenders, buttons, suits, hats, caps, silk hats, pants, drawers, cravats, studs, spools, silk, socks, needles, linen, "brick", collars, coats, handkerchiefs, shirts, scarves, coachman gloves, kid gloves, castor gloves, bows, umbrellas, elastics, overcoats, canes, muslin, satin, "livingston collars", "geyser water", night shirts, cashmere, cotton coats, bending (cloth), foweling (cloth), balls of cord, wiggan, cotton goods, "grey Cadet cloth" (September 12, 1876, p. 265), velvet, ties, "Campaign Uniforms"/"Campaign Suits" (A. L. Young, October 12, 1876, p. 315; B. C. Insler, Abraham Hyatt, and Dr. Woodcock, November 4, 1876, p. 360), "Suits of Clothing" (George R. Young, Agent and Warden of Sing Sing Prison, October 19 and 26, 1876, pp. 327 and 338), epaulettes (Sharp Terrell's coat, October 21, 1876, p. 331). sheet wadding, canvas, pocketing, twist, thread, slaven jackets, fanning, "Wolf Robes" (Mrs. Dr. Mead, January 10, 1877, p. 487), buffalo robes, and more.

Traverse City, Michigan manufacturer of the fireless "wonder cooker and baker" and a line of iceboxes, 1909-1919; records, including general office files, advertising,. minutes and reports, document the firms business activities.

The Traverse City Refrigerator Company's records are divided into two series: General Office Files and Minutes and Reports. The collection documents the company's administrative and business activities from 1909 to 1919.

The Ulster Iron Works records consist of documentation of the financial, management, and technical aspects of iron production during the 1830s and 1840s, and correspondence between the owners of the company and John Simmons, the on-site manager.

The Ulster Iron Works records consist of two parts, a bound volume that includes retained copies of out-going correspondence, and a series of approximately 100 miscellaneous items, mostly consisting of correspondence between the owners of the company and John Simmons, the on-site manager. The collection provides documentation of the financial, management, and technical aspects of iron production during the 1830s and 40s, with particularly interesting information on governmental contracting and on technology transfer from English and Welsh mills.

Both the bound volume and loose manuscripts include sets of technical specifications, and some plans and figures for various aspects of refining and iron production. The owners of the iron works were keen on importing the latest English and Welsh technology to make Ulster more efficient in production, with a specific interest in improving the rolling operations, furnace technology, steam power, and -- as might be expected for a works situated not far from the coal regions of Pennsylvania -- integrating anthracite into the operation as a fuel source. Among the miscellaneous manuscripts at the end of the collection are yield estimates and statements of production costs for various manufacturing processes, some production records, price comparisons with products from other works in the United States and Britain, and tests and specifications for various iron products.

The collection contains a number of items relating to labor and labor relations at the Saugerties mills. Scattered throughout the collection is correspondence relating to the hiring of both skilled and unskilled hands, with some particularly items relating to efforts to locate highly skilled English and Welsh workers and persuade them to emigrate, both to fill labor needs and to bring workers experienced with new technologies. In 1839, when William Young was traveling in Britain to examine iron works, Simmons argued that compared to English mills, Ulster could offer higher wages for several positions for boys, and argued that this might be an effective tool for luring emigrants in the face of an expected shortage of labor. There are also a number of items relating to workmen's wages, including some vouchers, receipts, and labor contracts for individual workers. Of a more personal nature, the collection includes a subscription list forwarded by John Simmons to provide relief to the widow of a mill hand (1830 August 25), and a letter from a former mill employee, Walter Kearny, requesting a loan to help purchase the business of a deceased partner. There are several references, though none terribly substantive, to "disturbance and dissatisfaction" among the employees of the mill in 1831. An 1842 letter relating to the New Jersey Iron Works, another operation managed by the owners of the Ulster Iron Works, contains even greater evidence of labor unrest. The unidentified writer insists that the workers accept a 25% reduction in wages without negotiation, and concludes, "we have orders on hand to execute, which may take another month to complete. We shall then stop, until the Workmen submit to our terms" (1842 January 16). A few letters relate to Simmons' own dissatisfaction with his position at the iron works and his feeling that his authority was being undermined by the actions of the owners.

Like many "business" collections from the early Republic, the Ulster Iron Works Records contain some personal correspondence of the mill owners and executives, particularly of the supervisor, John Simmons. Among the most poignant letters in the collection is a letter from Simmons to a bar owner, Samuel Oaks, in which Simmons writes that his father had been frequenting Oaks' "works" and been seen "in Places and in Condition highly Discreditable to the humane race" (1834 August 8). Simmons professed to finding the situation "mortifying" and pleaded with Oaks to persuade his father to return home.

The West family papers are comprised of approximately 1,400 letters, letter books, documents, and financial records pertaining to Reverend Samuel West and his two sons, Benjamin and Nathan P., of Boston. The bulk of the collection (approximately 900 items) relates to business concerns, particularly to Benjamin West's sugar refining firm.

The West family papers are comprised of approximately 1,400 letters, letter books, documents, and financial records pertaining to Reverend Samuel West and his two sons, Benjamin and Nathan P., of Boston. The bulk of the collection (approximately 900 items) relates to business concerns, particularly to Benjamin West's sugar refining firm.

The Correspondence and documents series consists of approximately 150 items, dating from 1679 to 1880; the bulk of these are dated between 1759 and 1826. Though the majority of the material within the series pertains to business affairs, several groups of letters relate to other topics. One early group of letters concerns Samuel West's move from Needham, Massachusetts, to Boston's Hollis Street Church, and another group to a Boston committee's proposal to alter the municipal government in 1815, which includes its lengthy report [September 25, 1815]. In addition, the series contains personal and family correspondence, though to a lesser extent. Primary correspondents within the series include Caleb and Joshua Davis, Benjamin West, Enoch H. West, Samuel West, Richards Child, Mills Olcott, Samuel and Ephraim May, Sarah Plimpton, George Cheyne Shattuck, and Elisha and Elizabeth Ticknor.

The collection's two Letter books belonged to Benjamin West, and hold copies of 166 outgoing letters, dated 1803-1827, related to his various business affairs and the settlement of his uncle's estate, as well as personal matters.

The Financial records series contains three subseries: Bills and receipts, Sugarhouse accounts, and Account and expense books. The series contains approximately 300 bills and receipts dating from 1748 to 1824, primarily pertaining to labor, repairs, and donations to various Boston societies and institutions. About 600 sugarhouse accounts (1796-1823) record financial transactions associated with Benjamin West's sugar refining business, and include accounts, bills, and receipts. The four books cover Benjamin's West's personal accounts and expenses between 1797-1799 and 1811-1827; the first of these concerns West's service in a local militia, as well as his other financial matters, including numerous accounts for clothing, tobacco, and trips to the theater.

Legal documents within the collection are divided into two subseries, covering Land and real estate (1707-1824) and other Legal documents (1738-1834). The first subseries consists of approximately 60 items, which relate to mortgages, indentures, and other agreements about land around Boston and in Charlestown, New Hampshire. The West family frequently dealt with the Wheelock and Metcalf families when purchasing land. The second subseries is comprised of approximately 75 miscellaneous documents, including material related to Samuel West's interests in Needham, Massachusetts; bills from Nathan P. West's time at Harvard College (1788-1792); and the family's additional business and legal concerns.

The Printed and miscellaneous items series consists of approximately 20 items, dated 1714 to 1825. Among these are broadsides, including programs for Samuel West's internment services and various anniversaries, and partially printed school reports. Miscellaneous manuscript items are 13 statements of Christian faith; manuscript music for several hymns; two books kept by Nathan P. West, including a copybook of mathematical problems and exercises (1792-1807) and a commonplace book (1798-1813) with medicinal recipes West used in his drugstore; and scattered quotations. The copybook also includes a small drawing of a skull next to a bottle of borax on its inside cover.

These 2 volumes contain labor records for a cotton mill in Wiccopee, New York, between 1854 and 1857. The books document male and female workers' names, their positions, and the amount of time they worked. Also included are similar records for the New York Rubber Company in 1858.

These 2 volumes contain labor records for a cotton mill in Wiccopee, New York, between 1854 and 1857. The books document male and female workers' names, their positions, and the amount of time they worked. Also included are similar records for the New York Rubber Company in 1858. Each volume is roughly 13"x12".

Volume 1 contains 39 pages of information about employee attendance in the carding room, where workers cleaned and prepared cotton fibers for processing, between June 5, 1854, and May 30, 1857. Each page documents around one month. Individual workers' names are followed by a daily record of their labor at the factory, which states the number of days and/or hours worked, and occasionally monthly totals. Many entries note the employee's specific job within the carding room.

The mill records are followed by 3 pages of similar records respecting workers in the New York Rubber Company's "grading room" (undated) and those who performed other tasks, such as carpentry and moving machinery (undated and January 20, 1858-June 5, 1858).

Volume 2 contains 40 pages of records for the Wiccopee mill's spinning room, kept between June 5, 1854, and May 2, 1857, and 39 pages of records for the weaving room, kept between June 5, 1854, and May 9, 1857. The end of the second volume includes 10 pages of accounts for additional manual laborers, such as carpenters. The title page of volume 2 contains a pencil sketch of part of a spinning mule, manufactured by the Matteawan Company.